US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton told The Voice of America she will be working along with Special Mideast Envoy George Mitchell to "help make progress toward a negotiated agreement to end the conflict between Israel and the Palestinians and create an independent, viable Palestinian state in both the West Bank and Gaza."
Yitzhak Benhorin
Ynetnews

The United States plans to offer more than $900 million to help rebuild Gaza after Israel's invasion and to strengthen the Western-backed Palestinian Authority, U.S. officials said on Monday.The money, which needs U.S. congressional approval, will be distributed through U.N. and other bodies and not via the militant group Hamas, which rules Gaza, said one official."This money is for Gaza and to help strengthen the Palestinian Authority. It is not going to go to Hamas," said the official, who asked not to be named as Secretary of State Hillary Clinton planned to announce the funding at a ...

An extreme right-wing kingmaker, the rise of Netanyahu and a continued Hamas presence in Gaza provide bleak prospects
There are three main reasons for Palestinians to be deeply pessimistic about today's Israeli elections. The first is the much-publicised surge in popularity for the far-right Yisrael Beiteinu party, whose leader, Avigdor Lieberman, is almost certain to get a leading role in the new cabinet. True, Lieberman has worked with centrist and centre-right governments before - he was once chief of staff to Binyamin Netanyahu, the Likud leader, and had a spell as a minister in the ...